Noted: The Supply Chain in Brief-Oct 2019

Good Works

  • MSC Group, parent company of MSC Cargo, worked with South Carolina Ports Authority and other industry partners to fill two 40-foot shipping containers in Charleston, South Carolina, with critical supplies to send to the Port of Freeport in the Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian. The maritime partners filled the shipping containers with more than 200 gas generators, tarps, gas cans, canopy tents, power cords, batteries, water, toiletries, baby wipes, diapers, cleaning supplies, and other related items.
  • DHL will donate its decommissioned computers and educational equipment to educational institutions and orphanages throughout North and South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Through the DHL Helping Learners initiative, DHL will install lightly used, refurbished computers at no cost to schools with low-income students and educationally focused non-profit organizations.
  • The Canaveral Port Authority donated nearly 60,000 square feet of warehouse and office space to non-profit organization Crossroads Alliance & Ministries to help in its humanitarian relief efforts for the Bahamas. The organization, which had exceeded capacity for donations at its Ocala, Florida, warehouse, collected, stored, and staged supplies from the port’s Maritime Center and Port Canaveral Logistics Center in Titusville.
  • GIG Logistics launched the Back-2-School Giveaway in Africa to provide children in low-income communities in Ghana with backpacks filled with school supplies. The initiative, in partnership with NGO Aim Higher Africa, kicked off in Accra with the distribution of 1,000 school bags.


M&A

  • CN acquired CSX’s 220-mile Massena rail line between Valleyfield, Quebec, and Woodard, New York.
  • Elemica, a cloud-based digital supply network, was purchased by Eurazeo, a global investment company.
  • FedEx acquired Cargex, an international freight forwarding company, and Agencias de Aduanas Aduanamos S.A. Nivel 2, a Cargex affiliate specializing in customs brokerage services.
  • Lineage Logistics, a provider of temperature-controlled logistics solutions, acquired two facilities from Van Soest Coldstores, which specializes in the storage and transfer of cooled and deep-frozen food products.

Green Seeds

  • The CMA CGM Group unveiled the world’s largest containership (23,000 TEUs) powered by liquefied natural gas, which will help reduce emissions of sulphur oxides and fine particles by 99%. These new vessels will join CMA CGM’s fleet in 2020 on the French Asia Line, which calls on Northern Europe and Asia.
  • Nestle set a goal to achieve zero-net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The company will introduce more plant-based food and beverage products, reformulate products using sustainable ingredients, strengthen its programs with farmers to restore land and better manage its dairy supply chain, and use 100% renewable energy in its factories, warehouses, and logistics sites.

Sealed Deals

  • Inter Cars, an importer and distributor of automotive spare parts, selected intralogistics system supplier BEUMER Group to install conveying, picking, and sortation technology at its new logistics center near Warsaw, Poland. The installation includes a warehouse control system that manages material flow to get spare parts faster to workshops and customers across Europe.
  • Bedding products maker Century Home Fashions adopted TrueCommerce’s Transaction Manager platform to streamline transactions with retailers throughout North America. The company selected commerce solutions provider TrueCommerce for its ability to integrate with Spire ERP to process key business documents, such as purchase orders and invoices.
  • Device maker Avanos Medical selected 3PL DHL Supply Chain to manage logistics operations for its U.S. distribution network. DHL Supply Chain leveraged 65,000 square feet of an existing multi-client facility in Las Vegas and a new 129,000-square-foot dedicated site in Southaven, Mississippi, to speed the picking process for the medical device company.

Up the Chain

  • Helen Davis was appointed senior vice president of global supply chain—manufacturing at Estée Lauder Companies. Davis will drive the company’s manufacturing strategy, enhance operational excellence across its manufacturing network, and collaborate with supply chain leaders to organize manufacturing processes.

Recognition

  • The Kroger Company, with reusable packaging supplier Polymer Logistics, won the Reusable Packaging Association’s 2019 Excellence in Reusable Packaging Award. The Kroger Company was recognized for its 2018 commercial pilot demonstrating the cost savings and environmental impact reductions of adopting Polymer Logistics’ Cleanpal pallet to distribute fresh eggs from a supplier to Kroger stores.
  • The American Logistics Aid Network presented Amazon with it Outstanding Contribution Award for its Disaster Relief by Amazon program. Disaster Relief by Amazon earned the award for leveraging the company’s services, operations, and logistics technology for large-scale disaster relief, most recently, in the wake of Hurricane Dorian.
  • The Intermodal Association of North America honored Mike Wilson, CEO, Consolidated Chassis Management, with the 2019 Silver Kingpin Award. The award recognizes an individual’s long-term contributions to intermodalism.
  • Schneider earned VIQTORY’s 2020 Military Friendly Employer Award, which recognizes companies that set the standard for demonstrating positive employment outcomes for veterans and their families. This year’s award marks the 13th time Schneider has been honored by VIQTORY for providing opportunities to veterans and active-duty military members.
  • The Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM) named oil and gas producer Petrobras as the first recipient of its Enterprise Certification. The certification recognizes the energy company’s supply chain excellence, transparency, and adherence to the ethical, environmental, and economical standards set by ASCM.
    Coca-Cola presented logistics provider Werner Enterprises with the 2019 Dedicated Carrier of the Year Award. The company was recognized for its performance, communication, on-time service record, and process improvements.